Devils Star | h.s

Chapter 26

"Jackson's parents contacted me. They were notifying me of how their son flew off to make amends between you and get you back. Are things better?"

"Mom, it's not that easy. We still have a lot to talk about."

"Then let me make it easy for you. If you make him angry by not taking him back, and therefore make his parents angry, I'll make you face the consequences. I only let you live your "independent lifestyle" because you didn't make me any trouble. But this is not acceptable."

"I'm twenty-one years old, you can't try to control me forever."

"We will see about that, Aurora." her tone scared me. "Pull yourself together and stop acting like a spoilt brat. This is not about you."

When getting myself ready this morning for work, I stopped to check my beeping phone. It was Jackson, messaging me every few seconds to see if I was free after work. He wanted to apologise for his behaviour yesterday but I didn't respond. I didn't know what to say, what response would be appropriate here?

Since Jackson appeared, my life started to become messy, and real fast. I thought talking this through would make things clearer for the two of us, but it only made things more and more confusing.

I wasn't blaming him. I wasn't sure of anything at the moment. I wasn't sure of what I wanted or what I didn't want. I never gave much thought to relationships. How they worked, how someone behaved. Jackson had been my one and only boyfriend. My mom had insisted on introducing me to him, continuously expressing her excitement about Jackson's interest. And naturally, I wanted to make her happy, so I went out with him.

And sometimes I wonder if that's all I ever did; put my mother's happiness before my own. And I was doing it again. As soon as she hung up the phone I opened my messages and texted Jackson back like she wanted.

To: Jackson
Work ends at 6, I'm free after that.

I didn't bother waiting for a response, I tucked my phone into my light blue jeans. It was cold out today so I decided to wear my slightly flared jeans, with a white button-knitted shirt and some small heels that were only covered by the bottoms of my pants.

I couldn't help but notice the absence of Harry's presence. His door was open to his bedroom but no one was inside. And by this point, I had noticed the small pattern that went on between the two of us. Whenever we would argue or disagree with one another, Harry always seems to just disappear.

When arriving at work I was surprised by the amount of work I had achieved today. I took Black's advice and tried to stay clear and focused. I took on a workload of other cases as well as my assigned one. Our company have many clients and they need as much help as possible.

After finishing what I could as the clock struck close to six, I made my way out of my shared office but stopped as I approached the lounge where I could see people engage in conversation with one another. As much as I wanted to walk over and join their conversation, I tried not to let myself be faced with someone like Candice. She radiated this charming, 'You wanna be friends with me' aura.

Well, to everyone beside me. To me, she radiated 'Come any closer and I'll bite, bitch'.

My thoughts were circling and circling, and I was trying my hardest to focus on the road ahead of me and not my complicated life. I was heading back home which meant Jackson and I were going to meet up in an hour or so. I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to talk to him. But my mother made it crystal clear to me what my options were.

No options.

I had seriously thought about giving Jackson and me another try after we had talked. But after Harry's butt in I started to question the situation again. Jackson told me that I had been the one ruining the relationship. Everything he explained to me was wandering free in my mind and I started to doubt myself. I was socially awkward. I wasn't used to being in a relationship. I didn't have any comparison.